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Plum Blossoms at Hanegi Park

I’ve been lucky with plum blossoms this year as the weather has been absolutely glorious. Last weekend at Yushima Tenjin, it was glorious. This weekend at Hanegi park in Setagaya ward it was glorious too. I haven’t seen blue skies like this in a very long time. It was perfect. Perfect skies to go with some very nice flowers.

Hanegi park's plum blossoms under a perfect blue sky

If you don’t know about Hanegi park, it is just one of Tokyo’s many local parks. It’s nothing special, for most of the year. However, when spring comes and the plum blossoms bloom, then we see something very nice there. It’s very different compared to Yushima Tenjin. Yushima Tenjin has the shrine, lots of entertainment and can be extremely crowded. Hanegi is quite different. Yes, it has some stalls, a teahouse and some entertainment, but it is more laidback and quiet. The emphasis is more on the flowers.

I went there quite early in the morning, and it was mostly empty. At that time, the majority of people were locals. People were taking their morning walks, or their dogs, joggers running around the streets. Real suburban Tokyo life.

Hanegi did manage to give me one big surprise. You can see Mount Fuji from it, through the trees! Even though I’ve been to the park many times, this was the first time for me to see the mountain. Maybe in the past I’ve been unlucky with the weather? I don’t know, but I’m glad to have finally seen it, especially during the plum blossom season.

Mount Fuji seen from Hanegi Park in Setagaya ward

If you are in Tokyo and haven’t seen the plum blossoms yet, I’d urge you to go and see them as they are really well worth seeing. Hanegi park’s festival goes through to March 5 so you have a few weeks left yet. The park is only a five minute walk from Higashi-Matsubara station which is on the Keio-Inokashira line.

If you want to see more plum blossom pictures you could look at this article about Yushima Tenjin.